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Old 03-11-2008, 05:33 AM   #1
euzowulu
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Unhappy cant start my new laptop because it came with linux os


Hi ,
I got my new Acer laptop as a gift, it came with linux os. I dont know how to complete the initial start up on like windows that will direct you on how to go about it.

can some one please help me because i cant return the laptop and i also want to start making use of linux os.... ...

Thanks ,

Emeka
 
Old 03-11-2008, 05:35 AM   #2
billymayday
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So what happens when you turn the power on? Talk us through what's going on (or not going on)
 
Old 03-11-2008, 08:18 AM   #3
v00d00101
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Im guessing it boots up to gdm, and then asks you for a username. The problem being you dont have one. Did the person who got you it, expect you to hack your way in?

When it boots up, and you get past the BIOS stuff, you should have a screen with a kernel name, press any key except enter (try Down Arrow). Highlight the kernel name (something like 2.6.8-1.x) and press 'e', and 'e' again. Now make sure you are at the end of the line and type in single. Press 'b'. When you get a console, type the following.

Code:
passwd
Now enter a password. This will be for the root account, which is the account of the system administrator (you!!!).

Now type:

Code:
adduser yourname
passwd yourname
Now reboot.

Once you get to the login screen, login as yourname. You are now logged in and the adventure starts.

It would be helpful if you could tell us what distro is installed on the laptop. My guess is Ubuntu, but it could be anything.
 
Old 03-11-2008, 08:22 AM   #4
onebuck
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Hi,
Quote:
Originally Posted by euzowulu View Post
Hi ,
I got my new Acer laptop as a gift, it came with linux os. I dont know how to complete the initial start up on like windows that will direct you on how to go about it.

can some one please help me because i cant return the laptop and i also want to start making use of linux os.... ...

Thanks ,

Emeka
Welcome to LQ.

You need to post exactly what you need from us. What is happening when you boot the laptop? Any error messages? What distribution and version? If you are booting to a 'X' environment then do you have an account on the machine? Do you know the 'root' password?
You will need to have a valid 'root' password to perform any machine changes, like add your new user (you) account to the system. If you don't know the password there are methods to get a new one.
 
Old 03-14-2008, 04:15 AM   #5
euzowulu
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cant start my new laptop because it came with linux os

Hi ,
Sorry i did not state the message clearly and Thanks for the answers i've gotten so far.
when i switch it on it starts booting; at a point it will promt me to "press i to enter interactive startup" after which it continues whether i press "i" or not.
Then it gets to some point again and promts me to "press y in 5 seconds to force file system intergrity check"after which it continues whether i press "y" or not.

Then these are the last few line; and that is stage where i dont know wat to do because its not promting me to do anything.

"INIT: Entering runlevel: 3
Entering non-interactive startup
Initializing radom number generator
:...."

Then some information on the commands you enter to view the License and Copyright Terms;

Then MODEL info:
"Linpus Linux Basic Edition V9.2 b070 626av1"

Finally:
"[root@localhost /]#"

Please i hope i've given enough details to get a solution.

Once again i appreciate you all for your time and efforts.

Regards,
Emeka
 
Old 03-14-2008, 04:38 AM   #6
jschiwal
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You should have continued on the same thread instead of starting a new one.

I can't really tell if there is a problem or not.
One thing that I would be interested in is whether you have a regular user setup. At the final prompt enter the command "ls /home/". If you see a directory in there, the name of the directory (minus the tailing "/" character) is most likely the name of the regular user.
Another way is with the command:
grep '/home/' /etc/passwd
The username is given before the colon.

If that is the case, you can reset the password with the command:
passwd username
where username is the name you found looking in /home/.

Try entering "init 5" as a test to see if the graphical system starts up.
This should startup kdm or gdm which are session managers where you can login by graphically selecting the user and then entering the password.

If that works and you can log on, we can instruct you on editing the /etc/inittab file.

Good Luck!
 
Old 03-14-2008, 02:21 PM   #7
Tinkster
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Merged the two threads.
 
Old 03-14-2008, 03:59 PM   #8
alan_ri
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Quote:
Originally Posted by euzowulu View Post

Finally:
"[root@localhost /]#"
Type startx now and press enter,then post about what happens.
 
Old 09-17-2008, 02:10 PM   #9
TeknoPeasant
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Registered: Sep 2008
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Unhappy cant start my new Acer aspire m1610

Hi guys

hope someone can help me,I have the same problem, when i turn it on, it stops at [root@localhost]#... ive read thru a few posts here and tried startx, but nothing happnes, then i tried runlevel (enter) and then telinit 5 (enter) and got.........
starting NFS statd: OK
Starting auditd: OK
(that goes on for 3 more lines) last line says starting anacron: OK

but nothing happens after that.... any suggestions??
 
Old 09-17-2008, 04:14 PM   #10
neilcpp
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what linux distribution are you running?
 
  


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